Comfort Me
by Jin Yaranda
Summary: Another Raccoon citizen tries to survive the aftermath of the hellish events caused by the Umbrella Corporation


_It doesn't matter…_

Bullets were flying overhead. The rattle of machine gun fire had broken out two minutes ago, and now many different kinds of weapons were being used. Against the horde.

_They can't feel it…_

The zombies slowly crept toward the people lined up on the streets. They looked like Military, if not for the Umbrella insignia on their uniforms. Who knew that Umbrella had a group of guys with guns? Mercs or something?

_They'll be dead anyway…_

Karen slowly stood up, holding the pistol she was carrying tightly. She backed away just as the first of the screaming started. She turned around, disgusted at the wet, sloppy sounds of the start of the zombie chowdown.

_I won't be next, I refuse to be…_

She started to jog, then went into a full-on sprint down the alleyway. She heard moans from behind her, and that propelled her faster. A zombie came from her left, and she just barely dodged it.

_I'm only fifteen, for Chrissakes…get me out of here!_

Karen turned the next corner, onto the main street. She could see wreckage everywhere. Blown up police cars, a crashed S.TA.R.S. van on the left part of the street, shells lying everywhere. There had been a massive battle here…like the one happening on the other side of the building. The ratatatat of the machine guns (or were they called assault rifles? Who cares!) didn't distract her much. She had to keep moving, to get out of the city.

A lone zombie shambled out from behind one of the cars. It moaned; a hollow, distant sound that sent shivers through her body. The soulless being came toward her at a crawl, but it seemed as if it were eager to see her…

_If they could see…and it just wants me as food…_

Karen raised her gun slowly, feeling a huge pang of conscience. This had been a human being once; only because of this curse, or whatever it was, was the former woman now just a mindless…THING…coming toward her, looking for sustenance. Why did they need to eat if they were dead? That random thought ran through her head as she fired, the bullet going cleanly through the temple of the creature.

_This place is turning into hell on earth…_

Karen had seen more death and destruction than any fifteen-year old girl should have seen. Zombies started to kill townspeople, and everyone freaked, trying to get out of town. They were shut out by blockades set up by Umbrella, which led her to believe that Umbrella was behind this. She and her family went back home, where her father had gotten his weapons from the gun safe. He had taken out the first of the clips for the 9mm when the door burst open, five zombies shuffling in. They went for her mother first, taking her down and eating her screaming face straight off. Karen turned and threw up as her father started to fire. The zombies just got distracted, they didn't die, and it made Karen even sicker. Her father was the next to be eaten, the gun flying from his hands as he fell…and then…

_I caught it…then...I ran like I was five years old…but what choice did I have?_

"I knew moving to Raccoon was a bad idea," she joked, but didn't feel much like laughing. She slowly made her way down the street, her gun raised and ready to pivot and fire. Lucky she had that marksmanship training, or she'd be dead by now. She had used her proficiency in a creative way, shooting a gas tank as she was surrounded by zombies to kill them all. They fried mostly, except for three, and she easily dodged them.

_Now I've got a clip and a half; twenty-two bullets won't get me far if the whole population is zombies now…maybe I could go back to the Umbrella guys? Ask for a gun? Yeah, bullshit, maybe they'll give me some chocolate, too._

It was forced out of her mind as soon as she thought it. She saw two things run across the street, and heard moaning behind them. The things in front must be people! She started to run for them, but was blocked by an explosion that suddenly shook the ground beneath her. Her body was thrown violently back, and she landed on her back. That was her luck in Raccoon. Alive, but barely.

"Shit…" She stood up slowly. Her left earring had fallen out sometime during the initial "infection," so she didn't see the use for the other one. But just in case, she shoved it in her back pocket. And now it was jabbing into her side. She pulled it out, and chucked it hard. It flew, and clattered softly on the ground.

A vibration shot through the ground just as the earring hit.

_Another explosion?_

Another one. And again. It seemed like footsteps.

_Zombie-?_

And some massive creature stepped around the corner to the street. She couldn't make out much, but from what Karen saw, the thing was a freak. It was like a huge man, seven or eight feet tall. It had gray, but not decaying, skin, without any distinguishing marks, except a pulsing mass in the middle of the chest. It had massive claws on its right hand that looked like they were made of metal. The left hand was a mace. It had gray skin, and was sexless. Random-

It turned toward her. It had eyes that were pure white, like the zombies'. A cataract, her mind told her in a frenzy of thoughts. It slowly made it's way toward her, seemingly locked on her. She whipped around, and ran, not wanting to fight any of those freaks. A zombie was bad enough, one of those things with the brains on the outsides were worse, but that thing…it looked like it could rip her in half. _Maybe it could, who knows?_ She didn't want to find out

As she ran, she heard the footsteps stop, then become a quick, thundering staccato. It was as if she could sense the creature behind her. Just as she ducked, she felt the wind from one of it's arms whip above her head.

_Why me-_

And she rolled and sprinted down the street again, heading into a very narrow alley. Her mind raced, trying to find an answer, and came up blank.

_Bullshit, this is bull-_

A huge clap of sound from behind, and she was thrown forward, feeling intense heat on her back. Her mind gave, sending her into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
